Valerie received her doctorate in 1996 after four years in our program. Her research was focused on cognitive development and language skills for kindergartners and preschoolers. She is employed at the Center for Applied Linguistics, one of many applied research organizations in the Washington area.. Valerie has continued to conduct and publish research with partnership graduate students.
Charlie Hendricks
As an undergraduate, Charlie assisted with two of Valerie's projects, teaching classification and seriation to lagging kindergartners. After earning her M.A. at Columbia, Charlie came back to GMU for her Ph.D. Charlie discovered the missing link - a new step in the development of first grade children's thinking! She is now in charge of a long term project at the National Institute of Child Health and Development.
Dennis Ciancio
Dennis completed his M. A. here before transferring to the University of Notre Dame in his home state for his Ph. D. The work he did here led to two published articles and was the basis of his dissertation. He also received a Head Start Research Scholarship to support his research at GMU. He currently has a research position in Texas.
Monica Savage Greene
Monica earned her M.A. at Howard University and completed her Ph.D. at George Mason University.She is especially interested in the interaction between parents and their children. Monica is currently employed at the Federal Office of Personnel Management.
Marinka Gadzichowski
Marinka completed a B. A. at GMU and is now a doctoral candidate in the ADP program. She participated in research with children with severe mental disabilities and supervised research with kindergarten and Head Start children. She was an on-site manager for the IES grant supported research with kindergarteners. Marinka has coauthored seven journal articles that present her work with children with mental disabilities, and made fourteen presentations at professional conferences.
Christina Terpenning
Christina participated in the IES grant supported research with kindergarteners. She participated in two presentations and completed her master's degree. She is currently enrolled in a clinical doctoral program.
Debbie Gallington
Debbie has a B.A. from GMU and completed her education with an M. Ed. here at George Mason. She was a manager on the IES supported kindergarten and Head start projects. She has five articles and 10 presentations.
Robin Saracina
Like Debbie, Robin has a B.A. from GMU and also completed her education with an M. Ed. here at George Mason. She was a manager on the IES supported kindergarten project, and was coauthor of four articles and 10 presentations. She has recently been employed as a monitoring and evaluation analyst in a local school system.
Katy Addison
Katy has a B.A. from Virginia Tech and completed her master's here at GMU in 2006. She participated in the IES grant supported research with kindergarteners. She was employed as an ABA therapist in Northern Virginia and is now employed as a researcher and data analyst at the national Institutes of Health. She was a manager on the IES supported kindergarten and Head start projects. She had two articles and 3 presentations while at GMU
Sandy Lilia Romero
Sandy assisted with the kindergarten research as an undergraduate and helped manage the Head Start research as an M. A. student. She completed her own research study, presented it at two conferences, and published it. She also coauthored a second study. She managed a research laboratory at U. of MD after graduating, and is currently a doctoral student at the University of Miami.
Karla Perez
Karla assisted in managing the Head Start research, and shared equally with Sandy in creating their own research project, presenting it at two conferences, and publishing it.
Caroline Boyer Ferhat
Caroline is a third-year doctoral student. She participated in the IES supported Head Start project and is currently a manager for the IES First Grade project. She has also conducted her own research project. She is currently working on a number of papers and presentations.
Diana Aiken
Diana has completed her M. A. in just 3 semesters – can you say workaholic – and is applying to clinical social work programs. She was an assistant manager for the Head Start research and a partner in Caroline’s individual research project. Diana will receive publication credit for both.
Abby Carlson
Abby is a current M. A. student. She is currently an assistant manager in the First Grade research and is working on an individual research project as well.
Ameena Sweeting
Ameena is a first year M.A. student. She is an assistant manager for the IES-supported First Grade research project.
Jennifer Bazaz
Jen is a first year M.A. student. She recently earned her undergraduate psychology degree at GMU as well.
Lily Adams
Lily is a first year M.A. student. She has worked in the human service and education fields. She brings her previous experience as a preschool teacher to her work in the First Grade classrooms.